Today I visited Our Lady Queen of Peace middle school in Goose Bay. There were about 200 kids at each session. Of course the first thing the younger crew asked me was, “Did you bring your superhero?” Of course I had Red Robin with me and I brought him out for the kids to see. After the presentation they posed with him. I’m starting to wonder if he’s upstaging me!
As per usual we made up stories using Character goal, motive, and conflict and a simple narrative arc with randomized genre curtesy of the Wheel of Genre. The first group made up a story about a Martian who travels to the future to see if pies can fly and runs into a villain who wants to stop pies from flying due to a terrible pie related incident. After some zombie pie escapades the plot was resolved using some well-placed tacos.
The older kids created a story about two dirt bike racing princesses (both played by boys). They were both after the prize money, but the evil Purple Princess kept cheating by using sparkle glue, a cloud of sparkles, and glittering knives coming out of her motorcycle wheel. The Pink Princess was run right off a cliff but luckily landed on a trampoline. She was then stabbed in the heart with a unicorn horn. Luckily her road crew patched her up with duct tape and she won the race. Being the gracious princess that she is – she shared the money with the Purple Princess, so all was well.
As per usual we made up stories using Character goal, motive, and conflict and a simple narrative arc with randomized genre curtesy of the Wheel of Genre. The first group made up a story about a Martian who travels to the future to see if pies can fly and runs into a villain who wants to stop pies from flying due to a terrible pie related incident. After some zombie pie escapades the plot was resolved using some well-placed tacos.
The older kids created a story about two dirt bike racing princesses (both played by boys). They were both after the prize money, but the evil Purple Princess kept cheating by using sparkle glue, a cloud of sparkles, and glittering knives coming out of her motorcycle wheel. The Pink Princess was run right off a cliff but luckily landed on a trampoline. She was then stabbed in the heart with a unicorn horn. Luckily her road crew patched her up with duct tape and she won the race. Being the gracious princess that she is – she shared the money with the Purple Princess, so all was well.
After my presentations I went for a walk around Goose Bay. I went to a tourist gift shop and bought a few things for my family, then I found a wonderful little restaurant called Cozy Kitchen and had a traditional Labrador dish – Pan Fried Cod with Scrunchions. Scrunchions it turns out are fried bits of cured salt pork. They were nuggets of smoky saltiness sprinkled over the fish. I actually ended up liking them quite a bit but I think they need to be in the same category as Toutons, nice for a treat but not something you should eat every day. The waitress was super nice and even gave me dessert on the house. I really can’t get over how awesome Labradorians are.
After eating I wandered around a bit more then holed up in the Library. While my bag was stored at the Royal Inn (a great place to stay if you are ever in the area), I still had quite a few hours to kill before I needed to head to the airport. So I found a comfy couch and started reading an apocalyptic/dystopian book about a boy who is a pioneer on the ocean floor. I got half way through before I had to go. I might have to see if I can find the book when I get back to Calgary so I can finish reading it.
By the way, there is a lot of sand in Goose Bay. It’s not even near the ocean and there is beach like sand everywhere. People were telling me how they get blowing snow in the winter and blowing sand in the summer. I wonder how hard it is to grow a garden out here. I visited a cemetery along the way. It was a Catholic cemetery but it looked like something out of Mexico. Really cool.
Finally I headed back to the Inn to check my e-mails and get my stuff. The reporters who were supposed to interview me didn’t end up contacting me. So I was glad I didn’t miss them. I was kind of worried about that while I was on my walkabout. Finally I had a cab called and took the trip back over to the airport. My driver had only been living in Goose Bay for four years. He originally came from Newfoundland. He told me how he had briefly lived in Calgary (well Pridis) and said the life style was way too fast for him – so he went back home. It’s so true though. Everything here moves super slow. Everyone is really relaxed. Labrador is the Jamaica of Canada I think.
After eating I wandered around a bit more then holed up in the Library. While my bag was stored at the Royal Inn (a great place to stay if you are ever in the area), I still had quite a few hours to kill before I needed to head to the airport. So I found a comfy couch and started reading an apocalyptic/dystopian book about a boy who is a pioneer on the ocean floor. I got half way through before I had to go. I might have to see if I can find the book when I get back to Calgary so I can finish reading it.
By the way, there is a lot of sand in Goose Bay. It’s not even near the ocean and there is beach like sand everywhere. People were telling me how they get blowing snow in the winter and blowing sand in the summer. I wonder how hard it is to grow a garden out here. I visited a cemetery along the way. It was a Catholic cemetery but it looked like something out of Mexico. Really cool.
Finally I headed back to the Inn to check my e-mails and get my stuff. The reporters who were supposed to interview me didn’t end up contacting me. So I was glad I didn’t miss them. I was kind of worried about that while I was on my walkabout. Finally I had a cab called and took the trip back over to the airport. My driver had only been living in Goose Bay for four years. He originally came from Newfoundland. He told me how he had briefly lived in Calgary (well Pridis) and said the life style was way too fast for him – so he went back home. It’s so true though. Everything here moves super slow. Everyone is really relaxed. Labrador is the Jamaica of Canada I think.
I finally caught my plane and flew from Labrador time (3 hours ahead of Calgary), to Quebec time zone (2 hours ahead of Calgary), to Western Labrador time zone which is the same as Newfoundland time zone (3.5 hours ahead of Calgary). My poor watch doesn’t know what time it is anymore!
It was dark when I arrived so I couldn’t really see the ocean. Sandy Chilcote, who is the person organizing the tour, met me at the airport. He took the fairy over. It was supposed to be an hour and a half ride but there was a lot of ice on the straight and the little ice breaker in front of the fairy got stuck. The fairy (which is 45 years old now) had to break the ice itself to free the ice breaker! In the end it took him 3 hours to get across the strait.
Tomorrow we’re driving a bunch and I’m doing presentations to three different schools. I can’t wait. I love hanging out with the kids. They are so amazing!
But now bed. I’m exhausted and all the clocks are liars.
PS: I almost forgot. At the airport in Goose Bay I found Pineapple Crush. So weird. I never knew such a thing existed. Of course I bought it. It tasted really good but it was basically pure sugar. The lady at the counter thought it might only be sold in Labrador.
It was dark when I arrived so I couldn’t really see the ocean. Sandy Chilcote, who is the person organizing the tour, met me at the airport. He took the fairy over. It was supposed to be an hour and a half ride but there was a lot of ice on the straight and the little ice breaker in front of the fairy got stuck. The fairy (which is 45 years old now) had to break the ice itself to free the ice breaker! In the end it took him 3 hours to get across the strait.
Tomorrow we’re driving a bunch and I’m doing presentations to three different schools. I can’t wait. I love hanging out with the kids. They are so amazing!
But now bed. I’m exhausted and all the clocks are liars.
PS: I almost forgot. At the airport in Goose Bay I found Pineapple Crush. So weird. I never knew such a thing existed. Of course I bought it. It tasted really good but it was basically pure sugar. The lady at the counter thought it might only be sold in Labrador.
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